Sundubu Jjigae

A fierce red stew with tofu so soft it cannot be handled, tipped in whole and broken in the pot with a spoon.

Pork, Fish, Shellfish, Egg, Tofu. Not vegetarian — contains fish, fish sauce, pork, shellfish.

Ingredients

• 2 tubes silken or extra-soft tofu, about 700 g
• 100 g pork belly or clams, or both
• 2 tablespoons gochugaru
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• half an onion, sliced
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 400 ml anchovy and kelp stock, as on its own page
• 2 eggs
• 2 spring onions, sliced

Method

1. THE TOFU GOES IN WHOLE AND IS BROKEN IN THE POT. Extra-soft tofu cannot be sliced, lifted or drained -- it collapses in the hand. So the tube is cut open and the whole block slid straight into the pan, then broken into large irregular pieces with the edge of a spoon once it is in. Those ragged faces are what hold the broth, and a neatly diced firm tofu makes a different and much duller dish.
2. SO IT IS BARELY STIRRED AFTER THAT. Two or three gentle movements at most. Stirred properly, the tofu disappears into the broth and thickens it to a sludge.
3. THE CHILLI OIL IS MADE FIRST, IN THE PAN. Gochugaru fried in oil for thirty seconds before any liquid goes in, until it turns deep red and smells toasty. That is where the colour and most of the flavour come from; stirred into the broth later it stays raw and gritty and the stew is orange rather than red.
4. AND IT MUST NOT BURN, which is thirty seconds and no more, over a medium heat, moving constantly. Burnt gochugaru is acrid and the whole pot has to be started again.
5. THE EGG GOES IN AT THE TABLE, cracked into the bubbling pot as it is set down, and left to set in the heat rather than stirred through. Added in the kitchen it is a thread of overcooked egg by the time anyone eats.
6. IT IS SERVED FIERCELY HOT in an earthenware pot if you have one -- the dish depends on still boiling when it reaches the table, which is what cooks the egg.
7. Pork belly cut small and fried in the oil in a small heavy pot 4 minutes until the fat runs.
8. The onion and garlic added, 2 minutes.
9. THE HEAT DOWN TO MEDIUM, the gochugaru and sesame oil stirred in and fried 30 SECONDS until deep red and fragrant. Watched, not timed loosely.
10. The soy sauce and fish sauce in, then the stock. Brought to the boil.
11. Clams added now if using, and cooked until they open.
12. The tofu tubes cut open and the blocks slid in WHOLE.
13. Broken into large pieces with the edge of a spoon, and simmered 5 MINUTES with barely any stirring.
14. Tasted for salt.
15. Taken to the table boiling, an egg cracked in as it is set down, spring onions scattered over, and steamed rice as on its own page alongside.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under South Korea · All recipes